Invented Archives at Allegheny College

Invented Archives at Allegheny College Art features three female artists whose creations challenge our perceptions of our relationships with others in their own individual ways.

Mitsuko Brooks unique art transforms the throwaway, the ephemeral, into long-lasting works. According to gallery information, Brooks was inspired by her life growing up in a military family and moving constantly, yet corresponding with her friends she left behind with postcards and large-scale creations entitled M.A.P. compositions, an acronym for Mail Art Paintings.

You Are Worth Fighting For (2020) composed of a discarded book cover, watercolor, paper and stamps, is a love letter of sorts mailed to herself, painted in bright, bold orange and yellow colors while We Must Love Each Other and Support Each Other, is another positive message to be supportive of anyone who would read this mini missive.

Meanwhile, Angie Jennings™ paintings of plants traditionally used for contraception and pregnancy termination reflect knowledge shared among women and disempowered individuals, according to a gallery press release.

Diana Sofia Lozano™s sculptures of hybrid flora” naturally occurring, genetically modified, and imagined” speculate on the desires of non-human species. Composed of polished steel, cast aluminum, resin, acrylic paint pigmented wax and other materials, Defensive Masquerade (2021) hangs from the ceiling, with large bright pink petals, suspended by a green and yellow stem; it is an exotic creation that could only bloom in a tropical climate– or otherworldly garden.

Invented Archives brings together three disparate artists with three disparate visions within the same gallery. Yet while the viewer might appreciate the art, one wonders why these artists occupy the same gallery space, lacking an obvious unifying theme to bind them together.

**GG

Invented Archives continues through March 3. For more information email: [email protected]